Just as temperatures have started dropping, outerwear brand Canada Goose is opening a flagship store on Michigan Avenue.

It’s the third retail outpost for the Toronto-based company, best known for made-in-Canada, arctic-ready parkas, some of which weigh as much as 8 pounds and run up to $1,695. The 60-year-old brand is relatively new to selling directly to its customers. The first Canada Goose stores opened last year in Toronto and New York.

The 10,000-square-foot Chicago store, where not only the parkas but the furniture, maple wood changing room benches and checkout desk — a nearly 2-ton block of British Columbian marble — are Canadian-made, opens Saturday in the Park Hyatt building at 800 N. Michigan Ave. Canada Goose is filling a former Giorgio Armani store, which moved to nearby Oak Street in 2015. Four more Canada Goose flagships are expected to open by the end of the year.

Other upscale brands have been pulling back on bricks-and-mortar stores. But Canada Goose CEO Dani Reiss said the company is taking a responsible approach. Stores help Canada Goose build ties with customers, who he thinks are drawn to the utilitarian brand’s authenticity — even if they live well south of the frigid climates its winter gear was designed for.

“We want to be able to tell the story of our history and our heritage and how we make our products,” Reiss said.

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: Why come to Chicago, and why now?

A: It’s one of the most important cities in North America, and we’ve got a large following here already. For our second store in the states, Chicago makes total sense.

We plan to open between 15 to 20 stores by 2020. We want to be in the right cities and in places that are sustainable, where we’ll be happy to be there in 10 years, not just for the next year or two.

Q: A lot of people are surprised to hear Canada Goose has been around for 60 years. How did a company known for a more utilitarian approach, that’s not inexpensive, get to be such a hot brand?

A: It’s taken longer than it seems. We’re a function-first brand. I see us as being like Land Rover in a way. When I started working here 20 years ago, most people in urban centers had never heard of Canada Goose. I think people like the authenticity. People want real things, and we were able to spread the word around that.

Q: Was there a moment when you saw it really take off?

A: There have been a lot of moments over time. As we focused on North America, we have a very strong relationship with the film industry, which uses our clothing on film sets anywhere it’s cold. We were able to go from being behind the camera to being in front of the camera. That helped us become part of popular culture and become relevant. Kate Upton wore the jacket in 2013 on the cover of Sports Illustrated. She was doing the first-ever fashion photo shoot in Antarctica. That’s the beauty of having a function-first product. Because people want real, authentic things, those things have become fashion.

Q: Canada Goose introduced a new knitwear line in August. How’s it doing? With the brand being so strongly identified with outerwear, does it transfer to new categories?

A: It’s very new, but from what I hear from stores and customers, we have very positive early responses. People seem to like it a lot, and we continue to be optimistic it’s going to do really well.

Q: The knitwear isn’t made in Canada. Why not?

A: If we could have made it in the same level in Canada, we would have, but we’re not able to, so we’re making it in Italy and Romania. It’s not about price; it’s not about going to a low-cost environment; it’s about making it in the right place for the product to be made.

Q: You initially weren’t much of a fan of logos on clothing. Have you changed your mind?

A: I used to cut alligators off my shirts. Now I understand a brand is a reputation. I believe there are real brands, and there are fake brands, and ours is one of the few real brands that actually still exist. It’s important to maintain that and not dilute what we are.

It’s not so much logos I’ve become a fan of. Clearly, we have a large logo on our products. We do have Black Label (with a more subtle logo) and some no-logo products. We have logo treatments for every taste. But what I came to understand is the value of an earned reputation over time, and that’s what a brand is.